Pages

Thursday, 16 September 2010

"A Muslim leader in Florence will present plans to authorities in coming weeks to build a mosque in the style of the city's classic architecture with minarets that resemble the cathedral bell tower designed by Giotto.

The project plans, unveiled in local and national papers this week, met with mixed reactions in local communities around Florence, where roughly 30,000 Muslims live.

'Islamic history shows that Muslims seek to embrace the architecture of of the places where they go,' local imam Izzedin Elzir, who will present the plans, told Reuters on Thursday.

'This is the basis of our idea to have a mosque in Florence which incorporates the style of our Florentine surroundings, as well as Islamic style,' said Elzir, who is also president of the union of Islamic communities of Italy, UCOII.

He said the mosque's minarets were meant to resemble the bell tower of Florence cathedral, designed by Italian renaissance painter and architect Giotto di Bondone."

So, Islamic history shows that they embrace the architecture of the places where Muslims go. No, what history shows is that Islamic culture tends to mix all the different styles known thanks to the great area they conquered and then to destroy the most relevant symbols of the pre-Islamic era (or threaten to). Just consider the Talibans with the Bamiyan Buddhas, but also in Pakistan, Buddhas have also been attacked. Iranian pre-Islamic art is also menaced by the mullahs (that's why is so silly to "loan" them the Cyrus' cilinder) and Egyptian heritage has been destroyed in an important part because it was deemed "un-Islamic". India also suffered from the systematic destruction of Hindu temples and heritage after the Muslim conquest.

Translate this Blog

Subscribe To

Recent Comments

T&P's Facebook Page

Archives

"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival". Winston Churchill.